Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This smells remarkably aristocratic for a village wine, with scents of pressed white flowers, strawberries and earth. It’s silky and tense, falling a little short after that beautiful aroma, ending relatively lean for a Pommard. Give it time in the cellar and the fragrance may lengthen through the finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
A blend of grapes from different growers, this is a structured, firm wine. It has a core of drying tannins as well as the bright fruitiness of the vintage. As it develops, that fruit will grow richer and fuller yet always maintaining a crisp edge. Drink from 2019.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Representing some of the darkest, deepest and sturdiest Pinot Noir of Burgundy, Pommard is one of the two villages in Côte de Beaune—along with Volnay—that is recognized for its impressive Pinot Noir. While it can’t boast any Grands Crus vineyards, its extraordinary Premiers Crus vineyards are aplenty.
Les Pézerolles, Les Épenots, Clos des Épeneaux, Les Chanlins, Les Jarolières, Les Fremiers and particularly Les Rugiens are among the most outstanding Premiers Crus.
The best Pommards will be concentrated in flavors such as black cherry, blackberry and dark chocolate, have dazzling aromas of violets, menthol or wild herbs and a firm and powerful finish. They typically demand some time in the bottle to reach their peak.